Scam Alert from Clay Electric

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Clay Electric is warning local business owners and commercial accounts about scams being attempted by people demanding immediate payment of bills.

Just in the past week, an Alachua County business owner was scammed by someone who claimed that the power bill needed to be payed immediatedly or the account would be shut off.

The caller told the business owner that payment could be made using a Green Dot payment card which is obtainable at local convenience stores.

"If you're a business owner and someone calls claiming they're with the power company and they need payment of a delinquent bill today, that is a big red flag," said Clay Electric's Bruce McHollan, director of the co-op's Information and Communication Technology Department.

Other recent scams have been reported in Putnam and Lake counties as well.

Clay Electric encourages customers and businesses to be suspicious of anyone calling, representing the co-op and wants to be paid for an overdue bill.

The company sends a reminder letter and makes an automated reminder call when bills are past due.

Members with residential accounts have also been subject to scams within the past year that involved emails.

Clay Electric does not send emails that ask personal information.

"We urge our members to ignore suspicious requests for personal information such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, user names and passwords, or Social Security numbers," said Derick Thomas, director of the co-op's Member & Public Relations Department. "We ask our members to delete all suspicious emails that require immediate action to verify or provide personal information."

WJAX